In the present description and in the attached claims, the expression “manual control device for a bicycle for issuing at least one electrical-electronic command” should not be taken in a limiting sense to exclude that the manual control device can also issue one or more mechanical commands to one or more pieces of mechanical equipment of the bicycle, such as for example a mechanical derailleur and/or a mechanical brake.
In the present description and in the attached claims, the expression “manual control device for a bicycle for issuing at least one command” or briefly “manual control device” or even just “control device” will therefore refer to a manual control device capable of issuing one or more electrical-electronic and/or mechanical commands to one or more pieces of electrical-electronic and/or mechanical and/or pneumatic equipment of the bicycle, such as a derailleur, a brake, a cycle computer, and the like.
Known control devices for a bicycle comprise one or more manual actuation members, of the lever type, namely rigid bodies actuated with a rotary movement about a pivot or fulcrum, or of the button type, namely actuated with a linear movement, said manual actuation members being actuatable with one finger or more fingers. Typically, the manual actuation members are supported by a body adapted to be fixed to the bicycle, typically at a handgrip portion of the handlebars.
The number, type, shape and position of manual control devices in a bicycle can change based on requirements, in particular based on the number and type of controlled pieces of equipment provided in the bicycle.
In greater detail, a bicycle typically comprises a rear brake associated with the rear wheel and/or a front brake associated with the front wheel, which are controlled by suitable control devices. The manual actuation member associated with a brake typically comprises a brake lever hinged onto the support body to actuate the brake by the traction of an inextensible cable, usually sheathed (Bowden cable), when it is pulled towards the handlebars.
Moreover, a motion transmission system in a bicycle comprises a chain extending between toothed wheels associated with the axle of the pedal cranks and with the hub of the rear wheel. When there is more than one toothed wheel at at least one of the axle of the pedal cranks and the hub of the rear wheel, and the motion transmission system is therefore provided with a gearshift, a front derailleur and/or a rear derailleur is provided for.
Manual actuation members can be provided for to issue a command to increase the gear ratio and a command to decrease the gear ratio, control electronics being provided for that suitably drive the front and/or rear derailleur in order to actuate each command.
Alternatively, one or more manual actuation members can be provided for to issue a displacement command in one direction and a displacement command in an opposite direction of each derailleur that is present.
In a typical configuration, a manual control device of the front derailleur and a manual control device of the rear derailleur—or only one of the two in the case of simpler gearshifts—are mounted so as to be easily maneuvered by the cyclist, usually on the handlebars, close to the handgrips thereof where the brake lever for controlling the brake of the front and rear wheel, respectively, is also located. Such integrated manual control devices comprise, in particular, a brake lever, a first gearshift lever for example arranged behind the brake lever, and a second gearshift lever for example arranged on a proximal surface of a body for fixing the manual control device to the bicycle.
Specialized handlebars for speed racing are also known, which have two or four bars or ends facing prominently forwards, which allow the cyclist to maintain a position of the torso greatly inclined forwards, which is aerodynamically efficient. With these handlebars, specific control devices are also used, both for the brakes and for the gearshift; these devices are commonly called bar-end since they are indeed housed at the ends of the handlebars, so that the cyclist can actuate them easily without having to change his/her position.
Manual control devices are also known in which a single lever is able to rotate about two or three axes to perform two or three functions—typically the brake control lever function, the upward gearshifting control lever function and/or the downward gearshifting control lever function—as well as manual control devices wherein a single lever is able to rotate in opposite directions and/or by different angles for inputting different commands and/or wherein different commands are associated with the actuation of a manual actuation member for different timeframes or according to different modes.
Therefore, the number, type, shape and position of the manual actuation members in a same manual control device can also change based on the requirements and/or the functions.
In order to issue at least one electric-electronic command, an actuation detector is provided for, which detects the position of one or more manual actuation members and/or the change of position thereof over time, typically between a rest position and at least one operating position.
The type of actuation detector depends on the features of the associated manual actuation member.
In some cases, the actuation detector is an electric switch, of the microswitch type, including a deformable dome-shaped diaphragm. In order to switch the switch, an actuation head fixed to the respective manual actuation member faces the deformable diaphragm in the rest condition of the manual actuation member, and acts by pushing onto the deformable diaphragm in the actuation condition of the manual actuation member.
In other cases, it can be a magnetic sensor that cooperates with at least one element made of paramagnetic/ferromagnetic material moved by the at least one manual actuation member, or an optical sensor, etc. Detectors of this kind are described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,056,651 B2.
Some known manual control devices are also provided with their own electronics, hereinafter called on-board electronics of the manual control device.
Such on-board electronics of the manual control device can comprise, for example, the aforementioned actuation detectors of the manual actuation members, processing components of the signals generated by the actuation detectors, as well as communication electronics with the controlled piece of equipment and/or with other components of the bicycle electronic system of which the manual control device and the controlled piece of equipment are part, for example communication electronics with a control station that receives the commands generated by all the manual control devices of the electronic system and routes them to the various controlled pieces of equipment.
The on-board electronics of the manual control device, as well as all the other aforementioned pieces of electrical, electronic and electromechanical equipment, consumes electrical energy, supplied by one or more battery power supply units of the bicycle, optionally rechargeable. In the case of the manual control device, in particular if the actuation detectors always remain active or in operating mode, the energy consumption can be high, thereby reducing in a non-negligible manner the autonomy of the manual control device or in general of the bicycle electronic system of which it is part.
Although it is possible to exploit, for recharging, the movement of the bicycle itself through a dynamo, it is nevertheless important to save as much energy as possible.
The various apparatuses are therefore sometimes provided not only with a proper on/off switch, but also with a standby or wait or sleep or low consumption mode.
Under standby mode, a condition in which an electrical, electronic or electromechanical device is not operating, though is ready to switch from a temporary inactivity state to operating mode is meant to be indicated; in standby mode, only those circuits that allow the device to start upon receiving commands or generally inputs that involve the actuation thereof are typically kept operating, thus there is a low consumption of electrical energy.
Vice-versa, in an operating mode, an electrical, electronic or electromechanical device is ready to receive commands or generally inputs and to perform tasks, even though it can be engaged only in waiting for commands and inputs, without performing any specific task.
The switching from a standby mode to an operating mode is indicated herein as wake of a device. More in general, under wake of a device, maintaining a device in an operating mode preventing it from entering a standby mode is meant to be encompassed. A same signal or a similar signal can be used in both cases.
For apparatuses arranged in parts of the bicycle remote from the cyclist's hands, such as for example the derailleurs, brakes and suspensions, the wake signal is typically a signal, specific or not, received from another on-board apparatus, for example from the associated manual control device.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,909,424 B2 discloses a wireless bicycle electronic derailleur comprising a controller including a wireless receiver that receives gearshifting request signals from a wireless transmitter, wherein the controller includes a CPU and a wake sensor operatively connected to the CPU. The wake sensor is of a vibrational type, but the document generically discloses that magnetic Reed switches could be used, configured to detect magnets attached to movable elements of the bicycle.
For bicycle apparatuses that can be reached by the cyclist, such as the aforementioned manual control devices associated with the handgrips of the handlebars or cycle computers fixed to the handlebars or in the front part of the frame, the wake signal has been so far associated with the pressing of a button or with the actuation of a lever by the cyclist.
For example, the aforementioned document U.S. Pat. No. 9,056,651 B2 discloses a bicycle control device, comprising an operating member, a detecting member configured to detect the movement of the operating member and a switching member, electrically connected to the detecting member and configured to switch the detecting member from a power-off state to a power-on state in response to a movement of the operating member. In this way, electrical energy is saved by keeping the detecting member in a power-off state until the manual actuation member is actuated.
The Applicant observes that in this case the detecting members are truly turned off, and that in the case in which the manual control device has its own incorporated cycle computer, no standby mode of the latter is provided for.